A Tale and The Times
by EmmyEeveeZorua
Summary: " And what was the thing that the Azran, the civilization meant to last forever, the civilization to act as a model for mankind, feared? Stones. Small, pebble-like stones that were in no such way ordinary." An ancient Azran Legend, warped by the ages, and what actually happened. Possible spoilers for PL6
1. Prologue

**An: I figured the Azran needed a legend, and this is an extension of a legend I made up in Chapter 4 of my story How To Save A Life. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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The Azrans were very advanced, much more advanced then the mankind of today, in the field of science. The Azran were proud of their prodigious knowledge, and adored the fact that they possessed the ability to explain many of the enigmas that haunt the earth today, such as terrible diseases and natural disasters. But there was one thing they could not fathom, and it frightened them to their dying day, even though they had believed the thing destroyed. And what was the thing that the Azran, the civilization meant to last forever, the civilization to act as a model for mankind, feared? Stones. Small, pebble-like stones that were in no such way ordinary.

You see, these stones contained the souls of children, all age 15 and younger, and it was how the stones came to be in existence that frightened the Azran. Their science couldn't explain it, as it seemed impossible. How could souls be tethered to stones? It was unexplainable, and that was what caused all Azran to fear the Souls, as they were commonly called.

Souls were strange things, being children who had lost their lives suddenly. Even stranger was the fact that Souls had the ability to look as they did moments before they died, and were also able to change the appearance of their clothing, allowing them to live among humans. Souls could make themselves invisible as well, escaping all forms of detection known to mankind at the time. Again, the Azran cowered in fear of the Soul. They defied all logic. They could not be seen. They were enigmas. They were the living dead.

Even though the Azran detested the Souls, there were rare people of Azran birth with the ability to speak and see the Souls, no matter how the Souls attempted to hide. These people normally kept quiet about their ability, and in fact, most never knew of their talent, often mistaking souls for normal children and teenagers. There is only record of one person who could see Souls, a young woman named Lusitania, even though many people had the ability. She tried to use her talent to help prevent a war between the Azran and another powerful civilization, the Dimensione, along with four Souls whose names have been lost to the ages. Lusitania, although she tried her best, failed, and her failure cost her her life. This is the legend, warped as it is.


	2. The Warped Legend

Many millennia ago, the Azran were ruled by a king named Aurum Per Malum, more commonly known as Aurum, and during that time, the Azran become an even more prosperous and advanced people, with the King of the Shining Dawn ruling the Azran Empire with kindness, and punishing those who rebelled with an iron fist. The unconquered peoples feared the Azran, willingly allowing Aurum and his army to do as they pleased in their territory. All except the Dimensione, that is. This powerful civilization was led by their 18-year-old princess, named Via.

Via was a pretty girl, with platinum hair and grey eyes, and possessed potent telekinetic powers. She was a firm ruler as well, leading an entire superpower on her own, and refused to ally her people with the Azrans. It was common knowledge she hated the King Aurum and his methods, as she believed it took an iron will to lead a powerful civilization. She was willing to do anything to hinder the Azrans, going as far as to declare war when the Azrans invaded part of her territory, a place today known as Wales.

Aurum had heard of a legendary scepter, made of marble, platinum and red diamonds, of Azran origin with the ability to be used as a laser-gun-like weapon in Dimensione territory, and declared that he must obtain the scepter to keep it out of enemy hands. In order to obtain the scepter, he sent an army of 151,000 men into Dimensione territory, and had them raid the town the scepter was rumored to be in, but he was too late. Via had already taken the scepter.

Outraged, he demanded to see the princess, but she refused, and declared war on the Azran when Aurum attempted to speak with Via again. The war was a terrible thing, even in it's first few months, with hundreds of casualties for both sides in the first month alone. The war had killed nearly 700,000 people by the time Lusitania decided to step in.

The girl was nervous, but encouraged by her Soul friends, she went to Via's court and pleaded with the princess to give the scepter back to her people, saying that if the scepter was returned, war would be able to cease. Via, although skeptical of Lusitania's claims, agreed to give Lusitania the scepter, and didn't question how she had gotten her information.

Aurum, on the other hand, was extremely suspicious of Lusitania and questioned her repeatedly on things such as how she planned to execute her plan, or on how she was going to make sure the Dimensione kept their promise, or how she was going to make the Azran kept their own promise. Lusitania, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of questions, admitted her talent of seeing and speaking to Souls. Aurum was horrified, and called upon four royal guards to arrest Lusitania, much to her shock. She begged him to let her go, saying she hadn't done anything wrong. But Aurum refused, stating she was a Dimensione spy, and that she had only given him the scepter to gain the trust of the Azran. He then ordered her dragged to the center of the shining Azran capital, and executed. His orders were followed, and Lusitania lost her life by drowning to death, viewed by most of the city. Aurum then ordered all Souls and their stones destroyed, which was done.

Lusitania's death sparked the an awful attack by the Dimensione, who burned and destroyed nearby Azran villages, mines, and other areas of major importance. The Azran destroyed the Dimensione's fields of wheat in retaliation, and the war dragged on and on and on, with each side retaliating for the other's attack. The war dragged on, killing 2 million people by it's end.

The war finally ended after 4 years, ending with the death of Via. She fought like a wild-cat, killing many soldiers with her telekinesis and knife before engaging in a fierce battle with Aurum Per Malum. The two fought for hours, each managing to injure the other horribly, with Aurum finally cornering Via on the top of her palace. He then stabbed her in the chest, after hearing her final words.

The legend then goes to say that Via's last words were a spell that would reincarnate Lusitania, and have both Aurum and her own descendants meet the reincarnated Lusitania. This same legend also states that the four Souls of Lusitania, as her Soul friends were called, were not destroyed like the rest of the stones, but had in fact managed to hide. Also, it is rumored that Lusitania possessed a necklace with two of her Soul's rocks sealed inside, and that two of them survive in it to this day. So, reader of this legend, what do you believe?


	3. Behind The Glowing Necklace

**An: This last chapter is through the eyes of two of Lusitania's Four Souls, so it might be confusing as there are two points of view with two different fonts, with Zero being normal font, and Nike being italic font. Oh, and before I forget... Merry Christmas!**

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It was a very dark night- but it was normally dark in the necklace Nike and Zero, along with their Souls Rocks, inhabited. They didn't know the date- they never did, and possibly never would. But they didn't mind, for as long as they had the other to talk to, they'd be fine. Zero was a tall teenaged boy, with black hair and dark green eyes to complement his marble skin, quiet and reserved, while Nike was short, red-haired, pink-eyed, nine-year-old girl, with a slightly darker complexion and a cheerful personality. But despite their many differences, the two siblings got along rather well, even after be sealed in a fused Soul Rock for many millennia. Zero simply had to find a way to amuse Nike, or vice versa. But he had to admit, tonight Nike's question were getting rather out of proportion and difficult to answer.

The little Soul was asking him many things, such as where the sun was, where they were, why they were sometimes covered in black goop, and why they could sometimes see the world outside the necklace. Zero had patiently answered his sibling's questions (The sun was outside the necklace, they were in their fused Soul Rocks, the black goop was a side affect from how they died, and they could see out of the necklace because the wearer was full Azran, and the Rocks could sense it, and the only thing preventing them from being released was the 5 millimeters of stone making up the necklace). The questions weren't hard to explain, but they were all tedious to answer, as Nike had asked them many, many times. So he had to find a new way to amuse his sister in order to save both of them from incapacitating boredom, no matter what it took. Luckily, Nike thought of an idea first.

_"Zero!" Nike asked. She figured her brother was bored of answering her questions. He looked like he was. "The wearer of the necklace is sleeping. Do you want to see her dream? I can do that! Well, I think I can, anyway." Zero looked at her, apparently amused. "What makes you think you can do that? I know I could do it, though." The little red-head pouted. "I know I can do it! I just have to think really hard, and say I want to see this dream! That's it!" The green-eyed boy laughed, saying. "That's not how I do it. I wait a few minutes and- What the hell?!" _

Zero looked at his surroundings in shock. They were no longer in the dark shadow of their Rock; somehow, Nike had actually managed to transport them into a dream, which was apparently taking place in a empty, blood-stained house, with a woman's cadaver. His sister looked at him smugly, completely oblivious to the corpse. "I told you so," she said, pride spreading over her small face. "Ok, I was wrong, you can go into dreams. Now how do we get out of the dream?"

_Nike stared at Zero blankly. She hadn't thought about leaving the dream, just about entering it. "You have no idea how to get us out of here, do you?" Zero groaned. "Great, we'll probably need to wait to this person to wake up in order to leave." "This will be exciting!" Nike squealed. The Soul didn't mind that they were trapped in a dream. She thought of it as a neat adventure, something to alleviate their boredom. "So where are we, any-?" The two Souls stopped their conversation and stared as a man, holding a sobbing little girl and a clear container full of black bugs, entered the room. "C'mon," Zero hissed, grabbing her arm and dragging her behind a shelf in the room. "What are they doing?" whispered Nike. "I don't know," her brother whispered back, glancing at the two humans in the room. "Something bad." The two watched in horror as the man threw the girl to the ground, and then threw the clear thingy on top of her. The small girl screamed in pain, and then much to Nike's horror, the man _laughed_, and left the girl writhing in pain, screaming on the floor._

"Should we help?" Nike asked, looking at Zero. "I think we should," she declared. "Well, I don't!" he hissed back at her. But it was too late, as his sister was already leaving their hiding spot. "Hi," the red-head said, holding out her arms. "Nike! No!" The tall teen left the hiding spot as well, raising his arms to grab his sibling. But to the small one on the floor, it must of seemed like the Souls were about to choke her, because she screamed, and the scene shifted, teleporting the Souls back to their dark prison. Nike and Zero looked at each other, confused, with their confusion causing a strange glow around the necklace later...


End file.
